Articles tagged “alaska airlines”

Virgin America's Elevate members now have an official timeline for when their loyalty program is going to fold.

It's rarely a great deal to buy miles directly from an airline. But several carriers in the Americas are offering big discounts, so it's no longer such a bad move to top off your account. Just remember: Miles almost always lose value with time.

Alaska's frequent flyers should love this decision. No, they won't get flatbed business class seats to New York, but they'll keep plentiful free upgrades. For most road warriors, that's a big deal.

The big surprise would have been if Alaska Airlines kept the Virgin America brand. This isn't a big deal, and it's nice that Alaska will be upgrading many of its products in the next three years. New Wi-Fi can't come soon enough.

Young travelers may have a new reason to consider Alaska Airlines -- the carrier just opened up free mobile messaging on all of its WiFi-equipped flights.

It's easy to be skeptical when an airline says it is making passenger-friendly decisions, but this appears to be the real deal. Many travelers will be much closer to a free ticket now that Alaska is retaining its miles-earning policies for the foreseeable future.

Delta and Alaska haven't been cozy for years, but many customers still have enjoyed the reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. Now that's about to end, and the airlines will be true competitors.

Alaska got what it wanted, and it's now among the strongest U.S. airlines on the West Coast. But the hard part is still to come. Alaska must meld two airlines with different cultures and customer bases.

Now that the regulatory and legal hurdles are out of the way, Alaska is free to gobble up Virgin America. But what will be left behind?

It's not likely Alaska Airlines would have lost in court, but this case was still a nuisance, so it makes sense that the company resolved it. Now, Alaska can finally focus on absorbing Virgin America.